People with diabetes admitted to hospital must be cared for by appropriately trained staff, provided with access to a specialist diabetes team, and given the choice of self-monitoring and managing their own insulin (NICE quality standard).
Diabetes UK has produced guidance for people with diabetes to ensure they know what to expect before, during and after their stay in hospital.
This position statement provides details of the issues people with diabetes have faced in inpatient care, including: the development of DKA and hypoglycaemia in hospital; issues with staffing; difficulty accessing multidisciplinary foot-care teams (MDTs) and a lack of support for patient involvement and self management.
Also included are Diabetes UK recommendations for action for commissioners, healthcare professionals and NHS managers. Diabetes UK believes that commissioners and healthcare professionals must ensure that inpatients always have access to a specialist diabetes team and are given the necessary support to self manage their diabetes whilst in hospital.
Download the full position statement, Inpatient care for people with diabetes (PDF, 147KB)